A POPULAR cross-Solent transport link is set to roll out vital new services for its passengers.

Hovertravel, which connects Southsea with the Isle of Wight, will soon introduce a wave of new early morning services.

From March 1, the firm will run hovercraft from Southsea Hoverport to Ryde at 6.45am and 7am every weekday, excluding bank holidays.

The roll-out will also see services leaving the Isle of Wight from 6.30am.

Touching on the changes, the firm’s managing director, Neil Chapman, said: ‘At the end of last year we added extra morning services into our timetable for Mondays only and now, demonstrating once again the core values of Hovertravel as fast and frequent, we are adding these services every weekday.

‘We have the flexibility in our operation to react quickly when we see opportunities and listening to our customers helped us identify how we could enhance our timetable.

‘By making these services a permanent addition we give our customers certainty and for anyone crossing the Solent during the morning, we are the obvious choice.’

The introduction is Hovertravel’s 20th new addition to its weekday timetable since December last year.